When you are old and grey and full of sleep,
And nodding by the fire, take down this book,
And slowly read, and dream of the soft look
Your eyes had once, and of their shadows deep;
How many loved your moments of glad grace,
And loved your beauty with love false or true,
But one man loved the pilgrim Soul in you,
And loved the sorrows of your changing face;
And bending down beside the glowing bars,
Murmur, a little sadly, how Love fled
And paced upon the mountains overhead
And hid his face amid a crowd of stars.

Older chests reveal themselves
Like a crack in a wall
Starting small, and grow in time
And we always seem to need the help
Of someone else
To mend that shelf
Too many books
Read me your favourite line

Papa went to other lands
And he found someone who understands
The ticking, and the western man's need to cry
He came back the other day, you know
Some things in life may change
And some things
They stay the same

Like time, there's always time
On my mind
So pass me by, I'll be fine
Just give me time

Older gents sit on the fence
With their cap in hand
Looking grand
They watch their city change
Children scream, or so it seems,
Louder than before
Out of doors, and into stores with bigger names
Mama tried to wash their faces
But these kids they lost their graces
And daddy lost at the races too many times

She broke down the other day, yeah you know
Some things in life may change
But some things they stay the same

Like time, there's always time
On my mind
So pass me by, I'll be fine
Just give me time
Time, there's always time
On my mind
Pass me by, I'll be fine
Just give me time

This garden that I built for you
That you sit in now and yearn
I will never leave it, dear
I could not bear to return
And find it all untended
With the trees all bended low
This garden is our home, dear
And I got nowhere else to go

So bring it on
Bring it on
Every little tear
Bring it on
Every useless fear
Bring it on
All your shattered dreams
And I'll scatter them into the sea
Into the sea

The geraniums on your window sill
The carnations, dear, and the daffodil
Well, they're ordinary flowers
But they long for the light of your touch
And of your trembling will
Ah, you're trembling still
And I am trembling too
To be perfectly honest I don't know
Quite what else to do

So bring it on
Bring it on
Every neglected dream
Bring it on
Every little scheme
Bring it on
Every little fear
And I'll make them disappear

So bring it on, bring it on
Bring it on
Every little thing
Bring it on
Every tiny fear
Bring it on
Every shattered dream
And I'll scatter them into the sea

I see YouTube killed the video. That's a shame, because one reason I posted it was due to that particular performance of the song being a musical tour de force by the band. Anyway, this is one version of the lyrics:

Listen to me lady
So it's understood
This runnin' round life
Ain't doing me no good
I get tired
Get so tired of paying dues
But it seems there ain't no way around it
No end to runnin' blue

But I like to have my fun
Like to run around
And I ain't no stranger
In nobody's town
But I get tired
Get so tired of changing views
And the road don't get no shorter
Runnin' round and runnin' blue

Well this runnin' round life
Might seem nice and easy
But when you're blowing with the wind
Sometimes it gets real breezy
A man gets tired
I feel like I was born to lose
And there ain't no way around it
No way round runnin' blue

Got no holes in my pockets
No holes in my shoes
But I don't know if I'm leaving Detroit
Or coming into Baton Rouge
I get tired
So tired of changing views
And there ain't no way around it
No way round runnin' blue

Left my billfold at the airport
My suitcase on a train
Now I can't find my umbrella
And it sure looks like rain
I get tired
So tired of playing to lose
And the road don't get no shorter
When you got the runnin' blues

Well the night life ain't a good life
But it's my life too
Once you're bound to this highway
Ain't nothing you can do
Except get tired
Oh get tired of paying dues
And there ain't no way around it
No way round runnin' blue

Light a candle
Lay flowers at the door
For those who were left behind
And the ones who've gone before
But here it comes now
Sure as silence follows rain
The taste of you upon my lips
The fingers in my brain
Ever gentle as it kills me where I lay
Who am I to resist?
Who are you to fail?

Got to get you out of my mind
But I can't escape from the feeling
As I try to leave the memory behind
Without you what's left to believe in?

And I could be so sorry
For the way it had to go
But now I feel your presence
In a way I could not know
And I wonder
Do you ever feel the same
In whispering darkness
Do you ever hear my name?

Got to get you out of my mind
But I can't escape from the feeling
As I try to leave the memory behind
Without you, what's left to believe in?

How could you dare
To become so real
When you're just a ghost in me

And I've got to get you out of my mind
But I can't escape from the feeling
As I try to leave the memory behind
Without you, what's left to believe in?

It's late in the evening
She's wondering what clothes to wear
She puts on her make up
And brushes her long blonde hair
And then she asks me
Do I look alright
And I say yes, you look wonderful tonight
[ Lyrics from: http://www.lyricsfreak.com/e/eric+cl..._20051481.html ]
We go to a party
And everyone turns to see
This beautiful lady
That's walking around with me
And then she asks me
Do you feel alright
And I say yes, I feel wonderful tonight

I feel wonderful
Because I see the love light in your eyes
And the wonder of it all
Is that you just don't realize
How much I love you

It's time to go home now
And I've got an aching head
So I give her the car keys
She helps me to bed
And then I tell her
As I turn out the light
I say my darling, you were wonderful tonight
Oh my darling, you were wonderful tonight

There´s a hard moon risin´
On the streets tonight
There´s a reckless feeling in your heart
As you head out tonight
Through the concrete canyons
To the midtown light
Where the latest neon promises
Are burning bright

Past the open windows on the darker streets
Where unseen angry voices flash and children cry
Past the phony posers with their worn out lines
The tired new money dressed to the nines
The low life dealers with their bad designs
And the dilettantes with their open minds

You´re out on the town
Safe in the crowd
Ready to go for the ride
Searching the eyes
Looking for clues
Theres no way you can hide
The Fire Inside

Well you´ve been to the clubs
And the discotheques
Where they deal one another
From the bottom of a deck of promises
Where the cautious loners and emotional wrecks
Do an acting stretch as a way to hide the obvious
And the lights go down and they dance real close

And for one brief instant
They pretend they´re safe and warm
Then the beat gets louder
And the mood is gone
The darkness scatters as the lights flash on
They hold one another just a little too long
And they move apart and then move on

On to the street
on to the next
Safe in the knowledge that they tried
Faking the smile, hiding the pain
Never satisfied
The Fire Inside
Fire inside

Now the hour is late
And he thinks you´re asleep
You listen to him dress
And you listen to him leave
You listen to him dress like you knew he would
You hear his car pull away in the street
Then you move to the door and you lock it
When he´s gone for good

Then you walk to the window
and stare at the moon
Riding high and lonesome
Through a starlit sky
And it comes to you how it all slips away
Youth and beauty are gone one day
No matter what you dream or feel or say

It ends in dust and disarray
Like wind on the plains
Sand through the glass
Waves rolling in with the tide
Dreams die hard
And we watch them erode
But we cannot be denied
The Fire Inside

__________________
njoy today

"The greater danger for most of us lies not in setting our aim too high and falling short; but in setting our aim too low, and achieving our mark.” Michelangelo

I know, it's not poetry in a song, but it is set to music, and effectively so, I think. I just happened to stumble across this video recently, shortly after December 7th, and thought others might like it: